The single horse-drawn in use 1860 -1890. It had entrances at either end and seating on wooden benches for 16. Spadina Avenue near Bloor Street in the winter of 1888.

Shovelling the track

From the Star of March 3, 1904:

"The snow sweeper commenced operations on the Lambton line this morning, and is experiencing some tough work to clear the track. Quite a gang of men are out scraping and shovelling the snow. They expect to reach Lambton tonight.The road out of town is not nearly so bad as in town. The line to Weston was in operation last evening for the first time since the storm."

"Toronto's public transit system started in the 1860s and grew rapidly. The first streetcars were pulled by a single horse and had room for a dozen or so people on bench seats. In 1891 the Toronto Railway Company introduced its first snow sweeper, an occasion for an impressive civic demonstration. It was pulled by a dozen horses and had huge roller brushes at each end. It proved to be more symbolic than practical because the following year, the railway company began electric service and pledged to provide service by horse and sleigh on major routes should a blizzard knock the electric cars out of service. The sleighs may evoke a Doctor Zhivago-like scene of pastoral winter tranquility, but they were cramped, uncomfortable and accompanied by a sub-zero wind chill to boot....The good news was that along with electric cars came heated public transit in the form of a coal stove at the front, probably of more use to the driver than passengers.The driver was part of a two-man crew. His job was to time the drive between stops so that the conductor could collect the fares. The new age of electricity meant electric sweeper cars, which together with "storm cars" drove the main routes throughout the night to keep the tracks clear of snow.

Trackmen worked a section of the line, much as they did on Canadian Pacific main lines. By the 1920s, the TTC had 28 electric snow sweepers and six gasoline plows, and the better technology meant fewer and fewer trackmen.The plow trains were so effective the TTC kept them in service until the early 1970s, finally retiring them and selling them to railway museums. By then, many were 75 years old. (Two are on display at the Halton County Radial Railway, the Streetcar and Electric Railway Museum on Guelph Line in Milton.)"

Source: January 25, 2007 by Adam Mayers Toronto Star (pgR5)